Hypothyroid, Paleo & not losing weight...going insane.

Yo! So I was diagnosed with Hypothyroid in May 2013. I've been on thyroid meds since then and things just aren't really going the way I had hoped. I'm female, 6'0 and about 175 lbs. I workout 4-5x a week (kettlebell training, sprints, weights, sometimes some traditional cardio...gross) and I eat a pretty clean paleo diet. Maybe a cheat meal once a week? No alcohol, no sugar and I cant seem to shed the lbs. I try to eat around 1400-1600 calories a day. I keep it low carb for about three days (around 70-80g of carbs) and on the 4th day, i'll eat some yams or bananas (about 150g of carbs on a high day). I usually aim to get about 60-70g's of fat a day. On average I burn about 500 cals a workout. What's the deal?! Help a girl out. I'm clearly doing something wrong...

I highly recommend you read Eat For Heat by Matt Stone. Some people hate him, but I've finally started feeling better. You definitely need to try a cheat day and eat whatever your body is craving, then see how you feel.

700 kcals would have done it, since that's starvation. That would have brought you into ketosis. And 1500 kcals per day when you're 6' / 175 lbs? Your problem is focusing exclusively on your weight loss and thyroid symptoms and making a singular connection between the two. And believing that a clean diet and cross-fitting will cure your problems. It will not. You probably have underlying metabolic and autoimmune issues and until you figure out what you have, even a Paleo diet will not solve it. Plus, a hypocaloric diet will worsen your thyroid problems.

Thanks for the response! I'm on levothyroxine for my thyroid which almost completely shut down. Pretty sure it was because I lived off about 700 cals per day and it just ruined my thyroid. I still have hypo symptoms and I go back to get my bloodwork redone in a few weeks so fingers crossed. I'm just impatient and figured the lbs should be coming off by now.

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Answers

You might be hitting the autoimmue issues here. Some Paleo foods are not good for autoimmue conditions of which your Thyroid is one of them. I have Coeliac, Hypothyroid, Rhumatoid Arthirtis (How ever you spell that!) to name the most annoying. I felt rubbish going Paleo and haven't lost weight either. But going to paleomom site, I feel much better since avoiding foods such as eggs. If you try the autoimmue protocol or autoimmue approach you might find the regime works for you.

Thanks for the response! I'm on levothyroxine for my thyroid which almost completely shut down. Pretty sure it was because I lived off about 700 cals per day and it just ruined my thyroid. I still have hypo symptoms and I go back to get my bloodwork redone in a few weeks so fingers crossed. I'm just impatient and figured the lbs should be coming off by now.

700 kcals would have done it, since that's starvation. That would have brought you into ketosis. And 1500 kcals per day when you're 6' / 175 lbs? Your problem is focusing exclusively on your weight loss and thyroid symptoms and making a singular connection between the two. And believing that a clean diet and cross-fitting will cure your problems. It will not. You probably have underlying metabolic and autoimmune issues and until you figure out what you have, even a Paleo diet will not solve it. Plus, a hypocaloric diet will worsen your thyroid problems.

What type of meds are you on for it? Do you still feel you have hypo symptoms? Does your latest blood test show you're in an optimal range? That's what you need to sort first, because until you get your thyroid working in an optimal range (for you) it doesn't really matter how good your diet is, and it's almost impossible to lose weight. Get that sorted first and then see what may be going on.